9 Chapter 9

[MC POV]

° A Few Days Later.

I let out a whistle as I gaze down at myself, ignoring Mark's look of disgust.

"Goddamn, I look good," I said.

_If I do say so myself_

I perched on top of the edge of the arm of a Tower Crane, sitting down beside Mark as he fiddled with his glasses. Both of us comfortably gave our newly minted costumes a whirl.

We got our costumes right after school today and of course, wanted to try them out finally. Mine fit very well, Mark's too.

Mark chose a strange yellow, blue, and black color scheme and design to his suit that oddly fit together well once it was done. Even with the silly arm-length fingerless gloves, knee guard boots, and a large letter 'I' symbol/design incorporated into the middle of his chest.

Mine, on the other hand, was a simple red and black color scheme with an even simpler design to it. Everything was made to function like a very tight but sleek onesie, with the exception of the the boots though. I opted to go maskless and gloves less, for many reasons.

Most of which was simply because many heroes didn't wear masks and their identities were safe, so I'm sure mine will be fine. As for the gloves, well that's not really needed anyway.

As for my symbol, I couldn't help but smirk as I took on just about the most iconic symbol of a superhero I know.

It was so simple, elegant, and all made with an extremely durable synthetic polymer material that was 'not easy to damage save for the most extreme of conditions' as Art put it.

_Comfortable, easy to move around, and very flexible. Art is good_

Now, as for Mark's problem with it, I wasn't sure. All I knew was that he was being a bitch about it.

"Stop whining already" I sighed, floating up and testing the suit in flight.

"How can I? I wanted ICONIC, something to stand out in. Yours is... " he complained, glancing at me and then sighing.

_Iconic, really_

"Says the one whose color palette screams 'The Immortal'" I scoffed.

"What?" he asked.

I looked at him, unsure if he was playing dumb or was just highly oblivious to it. The look of confusion on his face gave me my answer, though I did wonder how it went by him.

"The yellow and blue thing? Also that huge letter 'I' symbol on your front?" I said, pointing to the yellow-colored areas of the costume to specify, "The whole Mr.Immortal color scheme is very on the nose, I should say. People might think that he's your dad or something"

Mark gave me a disbelieving look "It's not-"

"And the name, my god. Invincible?" I laughed.

"Well at least I have one" Mark replied.

"Not in a rush here, just saying, but sure. In my opinion, though, you should've stuck with Duct Tape man from long ago" I retorted, still laughing as I remembered the entire 3 hours it took to remove the duct tape 'costume' he made.

"That was a long time ago!" Mark protested, "And it won't make sense anyway"

"And Invincible does? You really don't see it?" I ask, narrowing my eyes.

On cue, and as if to prove my point, Mr.Immortal himself fly by us and gave Mark an approving salute before rushing off. Giving us a full view of his blue, white, and yellow suit with the same I symbol in it.

I held back a smile, but not really, and looked at Mark "See?"

"...I hate you" he was clearly pissed.

"I appreciate the compliment, and I love you too bro" I smirked.

Luckily, he was in a good mood and brushed the topic away as he seemed to refocus his attention on his suit and then on the sprawling cityscape ahead. An eager look crossed his face.

He jumped off the crane arm, letting himself fall close to the ground before he caught himself and flew off.

I followed after him, but not directly flying behind.

Flying like this was so freeing and so exhilarating that one could not help but feel untethered to anything, to be so free that you feel like nothing can and will hold you down.

And flying with control was another thing entirely.

I urged myself forward, shooting past Mark as I sailed through the air and positioned myself close to the nearest skyscraper to the side. Getting a full view of myself reflecting off the glass as I flew at Mach speeds.

Mark clicked his tongue as he passed me, "What a narcissist" he said.

I angled myself towards him and shot forward, reaching his side in no time at all.

"What did you say?" I asked, acting like I didn't hear.

"Nothing," he said.

I was about to probe some more when a duo of explosions, one after the other, rang across the air. A quick look around was enough to tell me that both explosions happened in very different places in the city.

I look at Mark, who was already looking at the other one intensely.

"Mark" I called.

He turned to look at me and the look on his face told me all I needed to know. He was serious and excited at the same time.

"Split up and check?" I suggested.

"You're reading minds now?" he said, smiling slightly.

_Oh, you have no idea_

"Don't need to. So?" I asked again.

"Yeah, let's do it" Mark had already angled himself toward the explosion he was looking at when he replied.

I did the same and readied for take-off.

"Last one in the house gets the bathroom chores for a month" Mark quickly spouted before flying away, not even waiting for me to respond.

"Bastard. You're on" I said under my breath, accepting the bet as I quickly flew towards the direction target.

It wasn't that I expected him to hear me from this distance, only that if I won I wouldn't have to clean the bathroom after him. The guy enjoys long and very hair fall insulting smelling shits when I do the chores.

My aim was revenge, so I intended to win.

The flyover was quick and I arrived at a scene of carnage. The explosion's focus was on a bank, given how the damage seemed to be significantly worse on it. But the collateral damage affected a wide area within 50 meters.

Fires bloom in just about every flammable material. Debris littered the streets and a large number of affected cars were tossed all over the place in a mess of steel and leaking gas. And the bodies...

The scene was volatile, any moment could let it escalate to an even worse mess than what it already was.

What made it all worse was the continued fighting happening from within the mostly destroyed bank itself. Bolts of lightning and columns of thick flame exited through the large hole that was its entrance, which only made the collateral damage even more severe.

I didn't know who was inside or if they were friendly or not, that wasn't important. The mess needed to be contained and fast, or more people are going to die.

_Not on my watch_

I acted quickly. Lifting off the widest piece of debris I could find, a miraculously stable piece of wall, and placed it over the hole and placed it just a few meters from the hole to stop the attacks from hitting anything else.

I felt the intense heat and the stinging volts of electricity through the wall and the crooked metal robs that poked out of it. It wasn't that painful, not in the least, but I still felt it on my skin pretty well.

And it seemed like my actions have gotten someone's attention.

"Who's this motherfucker now?" a rough voice said, and he sounded quite agitated.

There was a loud *crackle* and the voice let out a pained *grunt* as he was seemingly attacked unexpectedly.

"Bitch!" the man shouted, "I'm gonna burn you to a crisp for that!".

I didn't listen more as I flew away and began to deal with the flames. Making sure to squeeze shut every leaking part of the cars I could find before I relocated each out of range. That was the easy part, as they weighed almost close to nothing in my hands.

The hard part was the bodies, and I quickly decided that it was best to leave them alone for now for the proper personnel to take care of.

All that was left now was to douse the flames, which was easy to take care of with the local fire hydrant. And by that I mean I literally tore the top portion of it and placed my boot over at an angle to direct its flow.

It was the quickest fix by far.

With that settled, it was now time to have a good look at the people who might be the cause of all this mess.

I flew over and got a good look at both.

A short-haired blonde girl in a yellow tight-fit costume with lightning bolt symbols on her chest and a large framed black guy wearing a set of mechanical arms that emanated a faint heat stood on opposite ends of the interior of the bank. Scorch marks and more flames littered the interior like a tasteless attempt at decor.

The blonde looked visibly hurt, blood ran the side of her mouth and she clutched her side, while the guy seemed only ticked off. I recognized one of them, at least.

It was clear how the fight between the two went.

"Got you now, bitch bolt," the man said as he raised both arms, and heat began to radiate from it in a concentrated way.

The next moment was a no-brainer to anyone with the power I had. I surged forward, arriving within less than a second and pushing both mechanical hands out of aim. Fire erupted from it, bathing the side of the wall with enough firepower to literally turn everything on it into charred chunks.

"What the hell-"

I didn't let him finish, I squeezed both hands of the mechanical wrists and tore them off completely in one tug. Then shoved him back to the wall behind him.

Letting go of the torn mech hands, I landed in front of the girl. Keeping my eyes on the man.

"Are you okay, miss?" I asked, internally cringing at myself for the cliche line.

The girl coughed once and surprisingly chuckled "Dude. Not to be rude or anything, but do I look like I'm okay to you?".

I held back a retort and said "I'll take care of him, you can go find medical assistance".

She went silently, strangely enough.

The moment was all the man needed to attack again. A torrent of flames emerged from the man's exposed limbs, headed straight towards me and the girl here.

I made sure to cover her as best I could as the flames landed before I could react properly, sending waves of intense heat all over me. Which, to me, felt like an overly high setting in a sauna at most. But to the girl behind me, it was enough for her to let out a shout as the fire burned passed through her exposed forearms.

I lounge forward, taking up as much space as I can as I close in, then grab the man and pull him towards me for a headbutt to his forehead. I felt something *crack* and then the man went limp, letting out a pained *groan* as he fell to the floor.

I dearly wished I hadn't done anything fatal, but that was self-defense. At least I told myself it was.

"Damn" the girl whistled, "That was an incredibly RECKLESS and STUPID move, but effective I'll admit".

Her emphasis on the words wounded me, but she had been at this hero thing for longer than I was. So I just nodded.

"Not really used to this hero thing yet, Im-"

"I know, I know. You're a newbie" she said, slowly letting herself relax as she slid to the sitting position to the floor.

I smirked, "Was I that obvious?".

"Oh yeah" she tried to grin but winced instead, "Don't get me wrong. You fight good, I mean really good. But guys like you are hard to miss, and I haven't seen you around before".

"Guys like me?" I asked.

"The flying brick types. Flight, Super Strength, and Durability. Like Omniman and the Immortal," she said.

I raised both hands in faux surrender, "Described me to a T, but I'm nowhere near the two examples you put out".

She rolled her eyes, "Well, duh. Those guys are on a whole 'nother level. If either one were here, Eruptor would've been pummeled till he passed out. But--".

"Eruptor?" I asked, glancing at the downed man.

"Yeah, that's his name. He can project fire and shit from anywhere in his upper body, and he's crazy strong too. These mechanical limbs help him channel that ability, making him more deadly" she said, "But you took him out with a headbutt, so you're no slouch either".

"Thanks" I smiled, welcoming the compliment.

The conversation took a pause when the sounds of the ambulance and police siren came closer. Help finally came, a bit later as always.

I looked at the girl, popularly known as Throwbolt, and extended my hand. She looked at it and at me questioningly.

"Come on, let's get you patched up" I said.

She understood but shook her head, "Thanks, dude, I'll manage. Tie up the guy for me, will you? Make sure he doesn't slip away while I gather my shit".

I nodded, pulling my hand away and turning to the Eruptor. He was still *groaning* on the ground, so it was easy for me to bind his hands and feet with a few thick metal bars. Making sure to double the binding on account of his apparent strength.

Then it came back to me.

"Shit" I cursed, flying out of the bank in a rush.

"Wait!" Throw out called out, "Where are you going?".

I was already a couple of feet up in the air before I stopped and looked at her. I considered what to say and came up with an idea that should be good.

"I made a dangerous bet, so I need to be quick or I lose. And the punishment is...something worse than death" I said.

Not exactly the truth, and not exactly a lie either. Cleaning shit stains and yellow gunk of tile and porcelain wasn't fun.

"Shit" she cursed, "But before you go, can I have your number?".

That took me off my mind, her sudden question shocking me quite a bit. Pun was unintended but welcomed anyway.

But I wasn't gonna be an idiot. She was pretty enough, and that yellow and white suit looked fine against her figure. Even with the rocker's hair.

"Sure!" I floated back down to her and gave her my number, "Give me a call anytime".

"I will" she gave me a weak smile and waved me off, "You can go now".

I went to leave but she spoke up once more.

"What do you call yourself, by the way?" she asked.

I hadn't finalized one yet, not until this very moment.

"Call me Superboy" I said, holding back the cringe at my naming sense.

It was a simple choice, practically a no brainer at this point. And it was easier to deal with then anything else. Plus, it makes sense since I am still young.

And thus I took my first steps into the heroing life, by taking my very own name.

Well, sort of.